the Course of Strategic Readers A COMPREHENSION CURRICULUM ASSOCIATES, Inc.
TABLE OF CONTENTS Student Letter.......................... 1 Exploring the Strategies.................. 2 Unit One: Folktale....................... 4 Unit Two: Animal Fantasy................ 16 Unit Three: Realistic Fiction.............. 28 Unit Four: Informational Text............. 40 Unit Five: Biography..................... 52 Unit Six: Informational Article............. 64 Glossary of Key Terms.................. 76 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The series NAVIGATE the Course of Strategic Readers was written and developed by Christopher Forest. Illustration Credits: Pgs. 5-13, 17, 19-25, 30-34 and 36-37 by Jim Roldan; Pgs. 44, 52, 55-56 and 65 by Pat Lucas; Pg. 57, photo courtesy of Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, LC-USZ62-124309. Cover design, layout, and typesetting by Pat Lucas. ISBN 0-7609-2834-7 2005 Curriculum Associates, Inc. North Billerica, MA 01862 No part of this book may be reproduced by any means without written permission from the publisher. All Rights Reserved. Printed in USA. 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
EXPLORING THE STRATEGIES 1. Asking questions Skilled readers ask questions as they read. They ask questions about something they have read but don t understand. They ask questions about what will happen next. They ask questions about something they have forgotten about a text. When readers ask questions, they think about what they are reading. 2. Determining importance Skilled readers find big ideas in a text. They figure out what is a big idea. And, they figure out what is not a big idea. To do this, they use clues in the text. This helps readers understand the main ideas of a text. 3. Inferring Skilled readers think about more than just the words in a text. They think about the text s ideas. By doing this, readers are then able to make new ideas. Maybe they see how a character has changed. Or, maybe they think about how two events in a text are alike. They may find out why something happens. All of this thinking is called inferring. Inferring can make a text more fun to read. 4. Making connections Skilled readers make connections as they read. This means that the text reminds them of something. Sometimes, readers are reminded of another text. Other times, 2
readers are reminded of something in their own life. They may also be reminded of the world around them. All these connections help readers understand the text. 5. Predicting outcomes Skilled readers make guesses about what will happen in a text. To make guesses, readers use what they already know from the text. Skilled readers think about their guesses as they read. They then see if their guesses were correct. 6. Returning to the text Skilled readers look back at what they have read. Readers look back to find information. They also look back to check their reasons for guesses about what will happen. 7. Summarizing Skilled readers can tell others what a text is about. This means that the readers can tell the big ideas of a text. They can also tell how these big ideas are different from smaller ideas. 8. Visualizing the text Skilled readers can picture parts of a text in their mind. These pictures help make the text come alive. Readers sometimes draw these pictures on paper. They sometimes write about these pictures. By thinking about these pictures, skilled readers start thinking about the text. 3
Unit Five BIOGRAPHY Lesson 1 Introduction You are about to read a text that is true. It tells about Dr. Seuss. He was a writer. He wrote books for children. His books are funny. This text tells about the life of Dr. Seuss. Prereading Activity One: Thinking About the Text This text is about a real person. Dr. Seuss wrote children s stories. What will be in a text about a real person who wrote stories? What questions do you think will be answered in the text? Question 1: Question 2: Question 3: 52
Lesson 2 Meet Dr. Seuss First Reading Getting to Know Dr. Seuss Dr. Seuss wrote stories. Many children have read his stories. His stories are funny. Some of his stories are about animals. Other stories are about people. Maybe you have read one of the stories. He wrote The Cat in the Hat. He also wrote Green Eggs and Ham. Reading Activity One: Determining Importance This story is about Dr. Seuss. You will learn about his life. You will also learn why people know about him. Why do people know who Dr. Seuss is? People know who Dr. Seuss is because. 54
Lesson 4 Fifth Dr. Seuss Gets an Idea Dr. Seuss took a trip on a boat in 1936. The boat made a lot of noise. He heard the noise. The noise made him think of a story. Dr. Seuss thought about words and sounds as he heard Reading the noise. He put the words and sounds together to make a story. Then he drew pictures for the story. He made his first book. This book was called And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street. Reading Activity Five: Inferring Dr. Seuss rode on a boat. The boat made a noise. The noise made him think of a story. What noise could Dr. Seuss have heard? Where could it have come from? Draw a picture of what you think made the noise. 58
Dr. Seuss Writes More Books Sixth Children liked And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street. So, Dr. Seuss wrote two more stories. He wrote The King s Stilts in 1939. He wrote Horton Hatches the Egg in 1940. Children liked the book about Horton. It told about an elephant that sits on an egg. Reading Dr. Seuss stopped writing for children for a short time. There was a war going on. Dr. Seuss wanted to write stories about the war. Reading Activity Six: Predicting Outcomes You have read about Dr. Seuss s books. What do you think you will read about next? I think I will read about. 59
Eighth Thinking About Dr. Seuss Children liked his new book. So, Dr. Seuss wrote many more books like it. He wrote How the Grinch Stole Christmas. He also wrote Green Eggs and Ham. For that book, he used a list of only 50 words. Reading Dr. Seuss wrote 44 books for children. Dr. Seuss was well liked by everyone. He died in 1991, and many people were sad. People of all ages still read the books that Dr. Seuss wrote. He is still a doctor who makes people feel good. Reading Activity Eight: Making Connections You have read about Dr. Seuss. What did the text make you think about? Did you think of something you have done? Did you think about a book you have read? Did you think about a funny story you wrote? Write something that this story makes you think about. This story makes me think about. 61
Postreading Activity Two: Returning to the Text On page 52, you wrote three questions. You thought you would find answers to the questions in this story. 1. What questions were answered in the text?. 2. What is one new question you have about Dr. Seuss?. Postreading Extension Activity: Making Connections You have just read about Dr. Seuss. Now you know a lot about him. Find a Dr. Seuss book that you have not read. Read the book. Now that you know about Dr. Seuss, how do you feel about that story? 63